Uber is expanding its ambitions in tourism: from rides and boats to hotels, restaurants and Travel Mode

Uber is increasingly moving beyond the mobility framework and building a platform that connects transportation, accommodation, restaurants, delivery and consumption in a destination.

Uber announced the relaunch of its service today at the GO–GET 2026 event in New York. Uber Boat in Spain, Portugal, Italy, France and Croatia, with the introduction of new hotel solutions, currently only on the American market.

With this step, Uber further expands its travel offer, from city rides to coastal destinations. 

From June 2026, Uber users will be able to easily rent boats in Portugal, Spain, Italy, France and Croatia.

The service is carried out in cooperation with the platform Click & Boat, the leading boat rental platform in Europe, giving users access to a fleet of approximately 50.000 boats. This further simplifies access for users to some of the most attractive Mediterranean destinations, from the Balearic Islands to the French Riviera and the Amalfi Coast, as well as one of the 1244 Croatian islands and islets. 

The introduction of the Uber Boat service is part of Uber's broader vision of connecting all elements of travel within a single platform.

In this context, a partnership with ExpediaGroup, which gives users in the US access to more than 700.000 accommodations worldwide. The offering will be further expanded throughout the year to include the brand's vacation rentals vrbo, and the partnership is planned to expand to other markets.  

Uber also announced a partnership with Accor, with which users can collect ALL Accor points through Uber rides and orders via Uber Eats, with additional benefits for Uber One members.  

Additionally, new functionality was introduced Travel mode, which improves the user experience within the Uber platform. This functionality helps users find their way around airports, provides recommendations of local content and popular destinations, and enables simple restaurant reservations via OpenTable (part of Booking Holdings).

Includes Uber version hotel room services, with delivery of food and basic necessities directly to the accommodation door.  

The real news is Uber's expansion into the entire tourism ecosystem

As we can see from the news, this is not only the return of Uber Boat, but the continuation of a much broader positioning of Uber as a travel platform. Uber clearly no longer wants to be perceived as just a transportation app, but as infrastructure which accompanies the user throughout the entire journey: from arrival at the destination, local movement and boat rental, to hotels, restaurants and delivery to accommodation.

That is the key difference. Uber Boat is attractive, but Travel Mode, partnerships with Expedia Group, Vrbo, Accor and OpenTable show the real direction of development. Uber enters the space where tourism decisions are made and where consumption is created in the destination.

For destinations and the tourism sector, this is an important signal. Platforms that already have a user, their card, location, habits and trust are increasingly becoming intermediaries between the guest and the local offer. So the fight is no longer just about who offers the service, but who controls access to the guest at the moment when they decide what to book, where to eat, how to get around and what to experience in the destination.

This opens up both an opportunity and a risk for Croatian tourism.

An opportunity because such platforms can increase the visibility of certain services and simplify consumption in the destination, as well as additional branding of the destination globally. A risk because another important part of the tourism value chain can move into the hands of global digital intermediaries. And that is a question of distribution, data and long-term control of the relationship with the guest.